[Gizimomo]

I got a female jack dempsey from a friend the night before last. shes about 6" in length, give or take, and in a 10 gallon tank till the end of the month. She is by herself. She really seems to have perked up this morning. Shes picking on the air pumps, swimming fast through the plants and seems to love it when I sit at the computer, she will hang out with me. She zips around the tank and is acting like shes having a good time. Loves her caves, loves "sucking" up the air bubbles out of the filter's. Is this normal behavior for them?

Not really sure what to feed her, my parents (who have freshwater fish as well) put her on a cichlid pellet (hikari gold?) and told me to give her a frozen bloodworm or brine shrimp cube once a day or every other day. Suggestions on adding veggies maybe? too much bloodworms/brine shrimp? Im reading that people only give it to their fish like once a week? I trust my parents advice, but wanted to get some 2nd opinions just to be safe.

thank you

~Beth

 

[jeaninel]

Sounds like your JD is doing fine. I have a female Jack Dempsey who's about 4" right now. She is very outgoing. She is always out at the front of the tank doing her little "wagging" dance when I'm near the tank. I feed mine cichlid pellets once a day as a staple (I use Omega One but Hikari Gold is good too) and frozen foods a couple times a week. She also loves veggies such as peas, zucchini and algae wafers and goes nuts for fresh chopped market shrimp.

 

[Gizimomo]

YES! she does this wiggly dance, and has laid ON TOP of the air pump several times lol She will race around the tank, then come up and do the wiggle dance, then grab some free floating plants, and race around with them in her mouth. VERY spunky!

Now when you say once a day, how many pellets per feeding? *** been doing 3-4 maybe 3 times a day? Shes eating them every time I feed her. I just figure in the wild they are constantly grazing for bugs and such, I want to keep it as natural as possible (SO not meaning to sound 'crunchy', just looking out for her) thanks for the info

~Beth

ETA: do you deshell the pea's before adding them? Can they be frozen, or do they need to thaw out first? Are the veggies fed raw?

 

[jeaninel]

YES! she does this wiggly dance, and has laid ON TOP of the air pump several times lol She will race around the tank, then come up and do the wiggle dance, then grab some free floating plants, and race around with them in her mouth. VERY spunky!

Now when you say once a day, how many pellets per feeding? I've been doing 3-4 maybe 3 times a day? Shes eating them every time I feed her. I just figure in the wild they are constantly grazing for bugs and such, I want to keep it as natural as possible (SO not meaning to sound 'crunchy', just looking out for her) thanks for the info

~Beth

ETA: do you deshell the pea's before adding them? Can they be frozen, or do they need to thaw out first? Are the veggies fed raw?

Mine is in with other cichlids but they generally each grab about 3-5 pellets each. Yes, I de-shell the peas. I use frozen peas, put them in a cup with some water and pop them in the microwave for about 20 seconds just long enough to defrost them, then squeeze them between my thumb and forefinger to de-shell them. The zucchini I also will soften in a cup of water in the microwave and then put on a veggie clip suction cupped to the side of the tank. It's actually for my pleco but the JD and the Synspillum love to peck at it when the pleco is not attached to it.

 

[Gizimomo]

thank you! I remember feeding cucumber to our breeding angel pair's when my parents bred thoes. She was fed mostly feeder fish as her staple diet (or thats what Im thinking, not sure what the full menu was) but shes already really brightened up since having her breakfast this morning of some pellets and a bloodworm cube. Ever since then, shes been doing her wiggle dance, and really tearing up the tank LOL I think shes happy

I do plan on putting her with one or 2 more buddies, but need the bigger tank first. Shes happy now, but I can imagine how much more spunk she will get with buddies to hang out with!